IWSC - Writing School
by ReadBooksWriteThings
Summary: A collection of drabbles that I'm writing for the IWSC Season 2 Writing School challenges. 1. Bill sees his daughter for the first time. 2. Death hates its job. 3. Remus finds his soulmate at the bakery. 4. Ariana wants to go to Hogwarts. 5. Harry has a flashback but Ginny is there to help. 6. Luna makes a new friend.
1. His Angels

**This is written for the IWSC Writing School Round 1. Hope you enjoy!**

**Focus: Introducing a Story **

**Chosen Technique: Start with Action**

**Prompt: (character) Bill Weasley**

**Word Count: 808**

* * *

Fleur was screaming and Bill was panicking.

He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready to become a father.

"Bill!" Fleur shrieked, her face twisted with pain as she clutched her stomach, "Bill, 'elp me! Eet 'urts veery much!" She shrieked something in french that Bill didn't understand.

"Don't worry," Bill said, trying to keep her calm, "We'll be at St. Mungo's soon." He snatched up the overnight bag that he had packed earlier that week and grabbed Fleur arm.

Dissaparation was uncomfortable as usual but all Bill could think about was that their baby was on the way. He was painfully aware that whether he liked it or not, he was going to be a father.

They landed at St. Mungo's, filled with it's usual noise and witches hurrying around. Bill half led, half carried Fleur over to the reception's desk.

"My wife," he said when the lady looked up at them, "She's going to have a baby."

The lady looked up, "How far apart are the contractions?"

Fleur gritted her teeth, "A couples ov minutez. 'Elp me, _s'il-vous-plait_," she squeezed her eyes shut and Bill kissed her, hoping to distract his wife from the pain.

The lady directed the two of them to a mediwitch who gave Fleur a warm smile.

"I'm Embry," the mediwitch said, giving a Bill a reassuring look as she took Fleur from his arms. Maybe he looked just as panicked as he felt. "I'm your mediwitch, if the wife could just come with me."

"Wait," Bill said, surprised to hear his voice on the brink of panicking, "Can't I go with her?"

Embry and the receptionist exchanged a look. It was clear that this was a frequently asked question.

"Sorry sir," Embry said, nodding to the receptionist, "This receptionist will call you once your wife has given birth. For now, you can wait in the waiting room."

With that, Fleur, who started giving little shrieks of pain, was carried away by Embry down the hall and into one of the rooms.

Bill walked shakily to a free seat. It had been a peaceful yet somber day. The anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts had been hard these past few years, reminders of Fred haunting him.

When the two found out that Fleur was expecting, Bill had immediately wanted to name his future child after Fred, but he knew only George could have that choice. However, both Bill and Fleur knew that they would name their child something symbolic, it would be a new chapter for them, a sense of closure.

But now he wasn't so sure. What if he wasn't ready to become a father? His parents were so amazing, how could he be even half as good? He thought of everything his parents had done for him, they were such great parents. His mum had told him just days ago that he could always come to them if he ever needed help with the baby. Bill knew how to raise siblings, he had six of them after all, but this was a baby, a sweet innocent newborn. He didn't know if he would ever be ready.

Bill put his head in his hands and tried to calm himself down. He couldn't be panicking when he saw his new baby for the first time.

He waited for what seemed like days, but was really only a few hours. The receptionist from before came up to him, a broad grin on her face.

"Your wife and newborn are ready to see you now."

Bill jumped up and his heart skipped a beat, he would finally get to see his new baby.

He took a deep breath before walking into the room. What he saw took his breath away.

There was Fleur, looking exhausted but still radiantly beautiful. And she was holding the most smallest bundle of blankets Bill had ever seen.

"'Ello Bill," Fleur smiled, gesturing for him to sit on the bed next to her, "Come and zee our little girl. She eez beautiful, no?"

Bill sat next to his wife and kissed her cheek before looking at his new daughter.

She really was beautiful, he knew immediately that she had inherited her mum's Veela ancestry. She had a small wisp of blonde hair on her soft head, her eyes were closed but he knew that when they opened, they would be a deep blue, an exact copy of Fleur's.

"'Er name eez _Victoire_," she whispered, "Eet eez french for victory."

Bill kissed her again, feeling nothing but pure happiness, "It's perfect."

He looked at Fleur, his amazing wife, and back at his daughter, his little miracle.

They were his precious angels and he would protect them.

Always.


	2. My Job

**This is written for the IWSC Writing School Round 2. **

**Focus: Dialogue tags and Action beats**

**School/Year: Durmstrang, ****Exchange**

**Prompt: (character) Death**

**Word Count: 965 (10% ****leeway)**

**Warnings: death, mentions of souls & brief mention of reincarnation**

**This drabble is the impact that removing souls and seeing people die has on Death. For anyone who finds this cool, I used the book, 'The Book Thief', as the source of my inspiration. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

I cradle the poor, broken soul in my arms. This one has been through so much, the pain of it all must have been unbearable. I hope that it can be peaceful, at least in death.

It hurts me to do this every day. I hardly ever enjoy the horrible act that is my job.

It's a cruel one really, to have to take away loved ones from their family and be forced to know that everyone feared you. It's hard to reach down and remove the soul from one's body. To see the light leave a person's eyes is the worst part of my job, but I have to admit, no one could ever do my job as well as I can.

_"Why is that?"_ you might ask. _"Surely your job isn't that difficult?"_

Well, I'll tell you why. Because no one else would take care of these souls as much as I do. I take care of them as if they were my children because, in a way, they are. My job requires me to take them away even if I don't want to separate them from the people they inhabit. So, I must care for them, until they float back to earth, searching for a new owner.

I feel the sudden yet familiar tug of a soul, searching to be held in my arms. I frown, it's coming from Scotland, from the school for wizards. That's the tenth soul in hardly five minutes. Something is going on.

I soar down to the school where I am almost blinded by the flashes of light. Spells. Something is happening. Something horrible.

I spot the soul, struggling to escape from a still body. A dead one.

The soul belongs to a man whose age I do not want to guess. His still face is lined with worry and fear, making him look even more broken in death.

I give the soul a little kiss, it is pained to leave the mortal world behind, I can tell. The reason becomes obvious just a moment later.

A young woman with a shock of purple hair and a tear-stained face is running about. She seems to hardly notice the great battle being fought all around her, yet she manages not to get struck by a stray spell.

She calls out. "Remus? Remus, where are you?" She is only a few feet away from me and the body of this dead man when she cries out in shock. "Remus!" The woman runs and falls to her knees in front of me. She cradles the limp body of the man whose soul I now hold. "Remus, how," she sobs, "how can you leave me here. Who will raise Teddy? I can't do it all on my own. Please come back, my love, please."

My stomach sinks as I realize that this man is her husband and they have a child. For the first time, the horrible urge to replace a soul threatens to suffocate me, but I know I can't do it. It goes against the rules of my terrible job. All I am allowed to do is take souls and care for them until they are ready to leave me. A new voice breaks through my thoughts.

"I found you," the voice cackles. "I've been looking all over for you."

The woman next to me jumps and spins around at the same time as I do. The soul of Remus almost falls from my arms and I tighten my grip. The voice belongs to another woman, this one older, with black hair and a sadistic smile. She's smiling evilly at the young woman next to me.

"Aunt Bellatrix," she says, I can feel her trembling next to me. "What-"

There isn't even time for her to finish her sentence. Bellatrix strikes, launching curse after curse at her niece, who is forced to let go of her lover to dodge the murderous spells.

Bellatrix laughs again, "You can't escape me forever, Nymphadora!"

Nymphadora tries to run but is blocked by other people wearing the same black clothing that her aunt wears. She backs up until she is almost where she started.

"Stupefy!" she cries, tears rolling down her face. "Aunt Bellatrix, please don't kill me. I'm your niece."

Bellatrix's face goes hard, "Avada Kedavra!"

I fight the urge to protect this young mother, to jump in front of the spell myself, but I know I cannot do it. The spell would just go straight through me. I must let the curse do what Bellatrix intended for it to do.

A green burst of light hits Nymphadora in the chest. Her eyes widen as she falls back, hitting the floor right next to me. She is dead.

Her soul bursts from within her, calling out to me. I gather it in my hands, letting the two souls of these lovers be close together. This is too much for me, I turn to leave, but something stops me.

It's the bodies. They were lovers, it isn't right for even their soul-less bodies to be separated.

Touching bodies, a thing of the mortal world is painful, but not as painful as it would be to leave them like this. I gather all my strength and drag Nymphadora to where her husband lies. Her dead skin seems to burn me, but I get the two of them together, their hands on top of one another. The way they belong.

Tears sting at my eyes and I'm confused. This is my job, and I'm used to this, but the demise of these two lovers is too much for me to bear.

I turn away and go back home, where I can put these broken souls to rest.

I sigh, I really do hate my job.


	3. Bakery Love

**This is written for the IWSC Writing School Round 3. Hope you enjoy!**

**Focus: Making Dialogue Flow**

**Prompt: (dialogue #4) "****I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested." - The Big Bang Theory **

**This was also written for the awesome NeonDomino (Liza) for the Gift Giving Extravaganza of 2020. I hope you enjoy!**

**I used these prompts; Wolfstar, Bakery!AU, Soulmate!AU, fluff**

**Word Count: 929 (10% leeaway)**

**As a side note this is a Muggle!AU just in case no one realized.**

* * *

Remus pulled a fresh batch of chocolate croissants from the oven and set them on the counter. He wrote _pain au chocolat_ (the french way of saying it sounded so much better) on a piece of paper, stuck it on a stand, and brought both things to the front of the Hogsmeade Bakery. As he slipped the tray inside one of the bakery cases, he caught sight of the words on his forearm.

_I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested._

For the longest time he had always found those words rather strange. His soulmate would be the first person who said those words to him. Remus was a romantic, he loved reading romantic novels but he wasn't so sure that he would ever find a soulmate himself. His mother said that a soulmate mark never lied, after all that was how his parents met, but she didn't know his secret.

"Remus!"

He turned and saw Lily Evans, his co-worker and best friend, walking towards him.

"Are you just going to stand there," she laughed. "Come on, we have hungry customers to serve."

Smiling, she walked back to the cashier. Remus, after one last look at those words he so longed to hear, followed her.

The rest of the day was a flurry of baking, selling, and dealing with annoyed customers. When the evening rolled about, all Remus wanted to do was go home.

Remus rubbed at his eyes tiredly, then paused as he saw a young man walk through the door. The man was on his phone, smiling as he talked to the person on the other side. Remus felt a flutter in his stomach, _the man was so handsome_. He had slicked back black hair and gray eyes that looked almost silver.

Lily was standing next to him, smirking as she watched her best friend check out the undeniably handsome man coming to the counter. "You can serve him," she said, fighting the urge to laugh as Remus blushed.

"Who are you talking about?" he asked, in effort to sound like he definitely was _not _checking out the hot guy.

Now, Lily did laugh. She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "The _hot _one. Who, might I add, you would look so good with."

Remus sighed, Lily had found out that he was gay a couple of years ago, when they were still in high school. She was the only person who had ever figured out and somehow she had turned it into an excuse to become his unofficial matchmaker. Still, he knew she meant well, the man was _really_ hot.

He felt a tingle go through him as the man let out a bark-like laugh before hanging up. Even his laugh sounded nice.

The man reached the counter and gave Remus a lazy half-smile. "Hi, I'd like a bag of _pain au chocolat_, half a dozen cupcakes, a medium pumpkin pie, a dozen treacle tarts, and a small vanilla cake. Oh, do you guys have coffee?"

Remus blinked in surprise. "Wow, I've never heard that combination before."

He smirked, "I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested."

Remus froze and stared as the man did as well. He yanked up his sleeve and watched in shock as the words that had just been said by this man slowly faded away.

The man pulled the collar of his shirt down slightly and Remus realized with a jolt that the words he had just said were slowly fading away from the man's collarbone.

There was a long silence which was finally broken when the man spoke.

"So, you're my soulmate?" He had a rather large smile on his face.

"Y-yeah," Remus said slowly. "I guess so."

He tilted his head, "You're decently handsome."

"Who, me?"

The man smirked again, "Yes, you. You have nice eyes."

"Thank you," he held out his hand for the man to shake. "I'm Remus by the way."

The man smiled, "Sirius."

"Like the star?"

"You got it," Sirius leaned forwards. "So, do I get my order or do I need to starve?"

"Oh, right," with everything that had just happened, Remus forgot that Sirius had actually placed an order. "Just give me a minute."

He slid the _pain au chocolat_, cupcakes, tarts, and cake across the counter, then went to the back for the pie and coffee.

"So," Lily said, appearing next to him, "what happened? How did it go?"

Remus grinned in spite of himself and showed his best friend his plain forearm. "He's my soulmate."

Lily's jaw dropped. "No way!"

"Yes, he is."

"What are you two going to do," her eyes shone with excitement. "Are you going on a date?"

Remus frowned, "I haven't thought of that yet."

She punched his arm playfully. "You are so boring, Remus! You just found your soulmate, you two _need _to go on a date."

He grabbed a pumpkin pie and a small cup of coffee. "What about work? My shift isn't over yet."

She practically pushed him to the front. "I'll cover for you. Oh, I can't believe it, you're going on your first date!"

Remus smiled at his friends excitment. It was rubbing off on him too. "Alright."

He went back to the counter and found Sirius waiting for him. He was already halfway through a cupcake and offered another to Remus, who took it before handing his soulmate the rest of his order.

"So," Sirius said, "do you want to go on a date?"

"I was just about to say that."

"How about right now?"

Remus smiled, "Definitely."


	4. Why can't I Go?

**This drabble is for the 4th issue of the IWSC WWN. **

**School and Year: Durmstrang - Year 2**

**Focus: ****Commas**

**3 type of commas that I used: Use a comma after a dependent clause that starts a sentence, use commas to offset appositives from the rest of the sentence, use a comma when attributing quotes**

**Prompt: (plot point) ****Education Equality**

**Word Count: 876**

**This drabble centers around education equality because Ariana's mother didn't want her to go to Hogwarts because of her illness. **

* * *

"Mom! Please let her go."

"No, I told you already, Abeforth. She is too fragile, too dangerous."

Ariana crept down the stairs, as quietly as she could, where she could hear her mother and Aberforth arguing in the kitchen. She frowned, _were they talking about her?_

She peered over the railing, her hands shaking slightly, and tried to figure out what was going on.

Aberforth's back was to her, but she could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was angry. Her mother, who was facing her, seemed tired.

"It's not fair," Aberforth said indignantly. "She can control her magic and you know it."

Her mother sighed before saying, "You know that she cannot go, so please stop bothering me. I'm making the decision that is best for her well-being."

Ariana bit down on her lip and tried to stop her hands from trembling. They were talking about her. But where did Aberforth want her to go so badly?

"What about the rest of her," he shouted. "She has always dreamed of going to Hogwarts, how can you take that away from her?"

_What?_

"Aberforth, I'm sorry. I wanted Ariana to go to Hogwarts as well, but you know what happened last month. She nearly blew apart her bedroom for no reason!"

"She was provoked," Aberforth was saying. But Ariana wasn't listening, she was lost in her own thoughts.

_She wasn't going to Hogwarts? How could her mother do that to her? _She felt an all too familiar surge of angry chorus through her.

Her mother had started to speak, but Ariana was already running down the stairs.

"Stop," she cried, storming into the kitchen. Her mother frowned, yet her face registered a little shock. Aberforth spun around, looking horrified.

"Ari-"

He grabbed at her hands but she pushed them away angrily.

"Stop! I heard you guys talking about me," her brother opened his mouth, looking as though he was going to explain, but she continued. "You guys think that I don't realize when you talk about me, but I do!" She spun to face her mother. "How could you not send me to Hogwarts? I've wanted to go there my whole life, and you just took that away from me. You-"

Ariana broke off, catching her breath, glaring at her mother. Suddenly, she had the urge to scream, to break something.

The world seemed to be trembling, and she felt as though there was an earthquake beneath her feet. The room seemed to be spinning, and it was all she could do not to scream.

Instead, she bit down on her lip, so hard that she could taste the blood filling her mouth, and tried to get herself to stop shaking. She looked down, a few seconds later she saw Aberforth's feet in front of her. He had stepped towards her and kneeled down so that they were face to face.

"Ari," he said softly, "look at me, darling."

She frowned, he was the only one who ever sounded like he truly understood how she felt. He was the only one who ever calmed her down. She looked up at him, not pulling away when he grabbed her hands, stroking them softly.

"Ari, you're okay. It's all going to be okay. I'm here, you're going to be alright."

Her eyes began to fill with tears. _Why couldn't she calm down? Maybe her mother had a point. Maybe she really was too dangerous to go to Hogwarts..._

"Calm on, darling," Aberforth had scooped her up in his arms, she was rather light for a ten-year-old, and started for the stairs. "Let's go to your room."

Aberforth climbed the steps, running his fingers through Ariana's hair. They got to her room, and he set her down on her bed.

She sank onto her bed, wishing that she could just disappear into the soft blankets. then, she wouldn't feel so horrible.

"Ari," Aberforth sat next to her and wrapped his arms around hers, "just breathe. Come on, you can do it."

Slowly, she was able to do as he said. Reminding herself to take deep breaths. She was okay, Aberforth was here. When she finally calmed down, she looked up at him and saw that he was already watching her, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Aberforth?"

He blinked, giving her a soft smile. "Yes, darling?"

Her eyes began to fill with tears. "Why did mother say I can't go to Hogwarts?"

Aberforth sighed, absentmindedly twisting her hair into little braids. "She thinks that you can't control your magic. I know that that isn't true, and you should know it too. But mother thinks that no one should know that your magic is a little different than ours."

"A little different," she echoed. "She said I was dangerous."

"That's what she thinks, Ari. Sometimes people have opinions that aren't true, those opinions are based on fears and false beliefs. They aren't true, so never believe them, not even for a moment. Okay?"

She felt tears, sadness this time, not anger and fear, flow down her face. "But, Aberforth," she buried herself under his arms. "I really want to go."

"I know you do, Ari," she could hear the sadness in his voice. "I know you do."


	5. We'll Be Alright

**This drabble was written for the fifth edition of the WWN at the IWSC. **

**Durmstrang, Year 2**

**Focus: Write a story involving a flashback**

**Prompt: 2. (sound) ****ticking**

**Word Count: 988 (10% leeaway)**

**I read somewhere that some people with PTSD (which I'm positive Harry has) have strong reactions to repetitive noises, like ticking. So that's what triggers him into a flashback in case it appeared as though there was no ****trigger. Also things written in italics, **_like this, _**shows a flashback as Harry goes in and out of them and this makes it easier to tell. The sound of ticking is also in italics but when it's in the flashback, it is written normally. Also I read that in flashbacks, things aren't remembered the exact same as how they were.**

**I also wrote this for the Leaped Moments and Missed Moments challenge on TGS. This counts as a leaped moment to me because I don't believe that "all was well" after the war and here you get to see the effect everything that happened had on Harry**.

**School and House: Beauxbatons, Barbegazi **

**Additional prompt 4. (pairing) Harry/Ginny**

* * *

Harry sank lower in his seat on the couch. He wanted so badly to leave the room, but the Weasleys had worked really hard preparing this birthday party for George and he didn't want to disappoint them.

George hadn't wanted a party; Ginny and Ron had begged him, saying that this was what Fred would have wanted. He never would have wanted his twin wallowing about; which was exactly what George had been doing for the past year. Right now, as the noise level in the room got louder and louder, Harry wished that George would have refused.

Over the talking and laughter, Harry could hear a constant noise: _Tick. Tick. Tick._

He groaned and put his head in his hands; on top of everything, he had to hear the nagging noise of George's grandfather clock. The noise seemed to be drilling into his mind, like one of Uncle Vernon's drills. He shook his head, why was he thinking of the Dursleys now? Why couldn't he just be happy like everyone else?

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._ His mind couldn't focus on just one thing. He felt like a tornado: a disaster, ready to sweep everything into the mess that was his existence.

_He was sprinting through the Department of Mysteries; looking frantically for his godfather. Sirius had to be here; the vision said that he was here. There was a clock ticking somewhere._

Tick. Tick. Tick.

_All it did was remind Harry that time was ticking. The clock was mocking him, reminding him of the time that he didn't have. He had to get to Sirius before it was too late._

Tick. Tick. Tick.

_He was battling the Death Eaters with Hermione and Neville. Hermione fell to the floor unconscious._

Tick. Tick. Tick.

_"She's okay," Neville shouted. "She has a pulse."_

_A pulse that would cease to exist if he didn't hurry._

Tick. Tick. Tick.

_Dumbledore was here. They were all safe._

_"Come on! Is that the best you can do?"_

_Sirius was laughing at his killer of a cousin. Harry tried to yell but his words were lost in the chaos. The laugh left his godfather's face when the green spell hit him. Sirius was falling through the veil. Falling, falling, falling..._

_Time seemed to stand still._

Tick...

_Lupin was holding him back._

_"Harry! He's gone. He's dead!"_

_"No! He isn't. He can't be. Sirius!"_

_The world seemed to be crashing down: but things were happening faster than ever._

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

"Harry?"

Someone was next to him, shaking his shoulders. Harry looked up and saw Ginny's worried face looking back at him. "Harry, are you okay?"

The room seemed to be spinning and screams were ringing in his ears. He tried to nod and reassure his girlfriend that he was alright, but the ticking of that dumb clock just wouldn't stop. It seemed to be getting faster, echoing inside his head.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick._

The cold floor seemed to welcome him as he slid off the couch.

"Harry!"

_Tom Riddle's voice was echoing through the Great Hall._

_"Give me Harry Potter! Give me Harry Potter or watch your friends die! You have an hour to surrender."_

_They had one hour. One hour to turn Harry in. One hour to give up the fight. One hour that wasn't enough for Harry to do what he needed to do. He could almost hear time mocking him._

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

_Harry was throwing things around the Room of Requirement. He had to find the diadem. His hands ached but he knew he couldn't stop. Ron and Hermione were next to him, shouting frantically. An old clock was sitting in the corner..._

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Harry!"

Harry was aware that everyone at the party was crowded around him. The room seemed to be closing in on him. He started to gasp, desperate for the air that seemed to have suddenly vanished. Everyone was talking, their voices ranging from frantic to reassuring. He shrank back; this was too much. He had to get out of there.

He sprang up from the floor and ran for the front door. He ignored the several shouts of surprise and the sound of footsteps following him. The door flew open on its own and Harry collapsed onto the front lawn, gasping for the cool, fresh air.

Even though he was outside, the ticking didn't stop. It was as though the sound lived in his head.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

The April sun was beating down on him and he couldn't help but start to shake. This was too much, all of it. Everything was just so hard.

A quiet voice broke him out of his musings. "Harry?"

It was Ginny. She had pulled him onto her lap and was now stroking his hair softly. "Harry, what's wrong?"

He turned away, embarrassed. "Nothing."

She grew fierce. "Harry James Potter," her voice was stern. "You can't shut me out. What's the matter?"

He sighed, she was right after all. She was always right. "It's that awful ticking noise." Even as he said the words, he could hear it.

_Tick, tick, tick._

She frowned. "From the grandfather clock?"

"That's the one." He felt out of breath again. Then, a new feeling arose. Guilt threatened to drown him. He had ruined George's special day. _Why did everything always have to be about him?_ "I'm sorry I ruined George's birthday."

Ginny pulled him even closer. "Don't you start apologizing. This isn't your fault. Did you have a flashback again?"

He nodded, suddenly unable to speak. He felt as though his throat was closing up.

"Just breathe, Harry."

Harry did just that and was pleasantly surprised when it worked, for once.

She kissed his cheek. "I know how hard it is. But I promise, one day, everything will be alright."

With her sure tone, Harry just had to believe her. "Promise?"

"I promise."


	6. Splish-Splash

**This drabble was written for the sixth edition of the WWN at the IWSC.**

**Durmstrang, Year 2**

**Techniques: Em-dashes, hyphens, semicolons**

**Prompt: 4. (setting) the lake**

**Word Count (google docs counter): 690**

**The Golden Snitch**

**Barbegazi, Beauxbatons**

**The Emoji Challenge - ****3\. The smile emoji - write about Luna Lovegood.**

**A/N: Sorry if this Luna is a little OC-like but this was her first year at Hogwarts and she desperately wanted to make friends. I think that her being sad about not having friends would actually fit her more at this age.**

**This drabble is for Miakoda, who helped me think of an idea for this. This was an idea that she liked, so I'm dedicated it to her :) Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Luna sighed wistfully as she sat down on the grass in front of the lake. Wiggling her bare-footed toes, she dipped them into the semi-cold water. She often went to the Great Lake when she had had a particularly bad day. Today had definitely been one of those days.

It had all started this morning when she couldn't find her shoes. She figured that the nargles must have taken them. So she had had to go to class barefoot, which made Professor Snape take away 10 points from Ravenclaw for—as he put it—"not being in proper Hogwarts clothing attire."

Luna had hardly found this fair; nowhere in the school rules did it say that you couldn't go to class without shoes. When Luna tried to explain this to Snape, he had merely glared at her before taking another 10 points off her house.

All of the Ravenclaws, especially the other first-years, were very angry with her for losing 20 points during their first week at Hogwarts. Even the seventh-years hadn't defended her—saying that she was merely finding an excuse for not wearing shoes. She supposed that the other Ravenclaws didn't believe in nargles.

An unwanted tear stung the back of her eyes; she wiped it away sadly.

"What if I never find a friend here?" she whispered to herself. "I told Daddy that I would try; everyone is just so—"

A sudden cold touch to her feet had cut off her wallowings of self-pity. Luna glanced up and gasped.

The Giant Squid was just an inch away from her toes. It was red and purple, with surprisingly kind eyes. The squid seemed to be making sure that it was only visible to Luna; only its eyes and two of its tentacles were visible.

"Hello," Luna whispered, inching closer to the squid. She didn't care that the hems of her robes were getting wet—she had always wanted to meet the Giant Squid. Daddy had told her that it was very playful. "Hello," she repeated when it didn't react, "I'm Luna."

The squid raised a tentacle and touched her arm. It was a very nice squid.

"What's your name? I—"

A splash cut her off.

"Hey!" She giggled. "Now, I'm all wet!"

The squid raised two tentacles as if to shrug its shoulders. Struck with a sudden idea, Luna smiled.

"I should call you Splish-Splash! The Great Squid is not a very creative name. Splish-Splash is much better."

Splish-Splash's eyes sparkled as it splashed her again; Luna decided that the name fit the squid quite well.

"So, Splish-Splash," she said, "do you ever get lonely here? There aren't any other squids around here." Splish-Splash made a sound as though agreeing with her. "I don't have anyone to play with either." A great idea popped into her head. "Do you want to be my friend, Splish-Splash?"

The squid bobbed its head up and down. Luna patted the tentacle nearest to her with a grin. Daddy had never told her that the squid could actually _understand _her.

"That's great"—Luna clapped her hands together happily—"having you as my friend will be so much better than having the other Ravenclaws as my friend. They don't like me very much for some reason. They don't even believe in nargles. Do you believe in nargles?"

She could have sworn that Splish-Splash nodded.

Luna found herself telling Splish-Splash all about her not-so-great day and how she felt a little out of place at Hogwarts. Splish-Splash was a very good listener and very sympathetic. The squid often patted her arm reassuringly or splashed her to make her smile.

"One day, me and Daddy were out in the forest behind our house," she said. This was one of her favourite stories! "and then we—"

"Miss Lovegood!" A loud voice caused Luna to jump up and turn around. Professor Snape was striding towards her; he looked furious. "Get out of the Great Lake _at once_!"

Luna turned back to Splish-Splash to say goodbye, but the squid had quickly retreated at the sound of the voice. She dutifully stepped out of the lake; talking to Splish-Splash would have to wait for another day.


End file.
